Friday, February 20, 2015

Music of the Spheres: An experiment in interactive storytelling


A pious woman who cuts out people's tongues; a mysterious man who has aligned with the enemy to save his wife; a frustrated professor who is looking to capture real power at any cost; a desperate father with a death wish who is stuck in a time loop; and a replica who is as loving as she is brutally cruel.  They are all standing in the way of Angela as she searches for the 9 blades that make up the mystical ancient weapon developed by Pythagoras called the Music of the Spheres; a weapon, that when fully assembled, can completely alter space and time.

All that and the viewer has control over the story.

Award-winning filmmaker Ruth Gregory has launched a Kickstarter campaign for “Music of the Spheres” an interactive, female-centered, sci-fi web series to be shot this summer in Washington state.

“I decided that after producing ‘Maikaru’ [which one best documentary short at the Seattle International Film Festival making it Oscar-eligible] that it was time for a new challenge,” Gregory said, “I’m a huge sci-fi fan and have always wanted to take the plunge in that direction as a filmmaker.  This just seemed like the right time.”

But an interactive web series?  How does that work?

“The net is a great communication tool so why not invite your audience into the creative process instead of just presenting your show like we’ve done for years on network television,” Gregory states. “I was thinking about it in a very formalist manner – as mediamakers no one has really tried to maximize what you could do with media on the a platform like the internet and I wanted to explore the possibilities.”

The “Music of the Spheres” episodes will be freely available on the web, but the pay community that surrounds the show – the Order of the Spheres – will financially and creatively support the show as it moves forward.  “We wanted to give our pay fans the opportunity to be a part of the show in a unique way.  And you can’t get much more intimate that becoming a part of the creative process!”

The cast includes a bevy of Washington talent including actors who’ve been on television shows like Syfy’s “Z Nation” and NBC’s “Grimm” as well as high-profile movies like Wild and Safety Not Guaranteed.  Rosalie Miller is attached to play the main character, Angela.  The primary cast also includes Wonder Russell (Betty), Tony Doupe (Dan), Lowell Deo (Scott), Jennifer True (Petra), and Jodie Harwood (Pam).


The “Music of the Spheres” Kickstarter campaign is live until 10pm on March 1at www.WheresAngela.com/Kickstarter.